Wireless communication networks are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Especially popular is the wireless local-area network (WLAN). In WLANs, each device includes a WLAN module for communicating over the WLAN. Each WLAN module generally includes an analog section and a digital section, and can be implemented as one or more integrated circuits.
To ensure quality, each WLAN module is tested as a unit before release. The WLAN module is generally sold as a unit, rather than as its constituent integrated circuits. Chip-level testing is generally limited to enabling and checking functional blocks on the silicon, and is mostly limited to the digital section. Therefore chip-level tests cannot cover all use cases for the entire WLAN module. In contrast, module-level testing involves using all of the functional blocks together to transmit and receive waveforms, and therefore extends into the analog section, including the radio-frequency modules. In order to avoid field returns of modules that fail module-level tests, it is desirable to test the entire WLAN module as a unit.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional WLAN module test system 100. Referring to FIG. 1, test system 100 includes automated test equipment (ATE) 102 in communication with the WLAN module device under test (DUT) 104. Each DUT 104 includes a test interface 106 that allows ATE 102 to configure DUT 104 for testing, and to extract test data from DUT 104. For example, test interface 106 is often implemented as a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) interface.
During the test, DUT 104 and ATE 102 communicate over an RF interface 108. RF interface 108 can be an air interface, but is generally implemented as a cable to eliminate interference from sources outside the test.
Testing WLAN modules in the manner shown in FIG. 1 is an expensive and time-consuming process. Considerable time is required due to the complex set up for ATE 102, long processing time, and extra post-processing of the test data for data analysis. In addition, the tests are confined to the limits of ATE 102, which is generally supplied by a third-party vendor.